


Wingin' it

by Gabbeeh



Series: The WinterIron FemTony Wingfic AU [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Arc Reactor Issues, Childbirth, Chronic Illness, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Parenthood, Pregnancy, The spoon theory, Wingfic, heart condition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 16:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15393099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabbeeh/pseuds/Gabbeeh
Summary: Toni and Bucky face parenthood.





	Wingin' it

**Author's Note:**

> Longest part of this series so far! Yay.
> 
> You should probably read the rest of the series to understand this - it's really not a long read.
> 
> Also, Pepper and Rhodey kinda fell out of this story. That's what happens when you have too many characters to keep track of. Oh, well - maybe next story.

 

Toni spent movie night asleep in Bucky’s arms. This was not an unusual occurrence, since Toni did need a lot more sleep than the rest of the team did. Lately though, Bucky felt like she always ran out of spoons, constantly on the brink of exhaustion. Some of that could probably be attributed to the fact that she hadn’t had much of an appetite lately - which in itself was worrying - but Bucky felt like there might be something else going on.

 

”Buck, what’s going on?”

 

Steve’s voice raised him from his thoughts, causing him to look up from the sleeping woman in his arms, though he kept stroking the soft feathers of her wings. Someone had paused the movie, and the rest of the team were looking at him.

 

”You haven’t even looked up for the entire evening, and you’ve got that worried wrinkle between your eyebrows”, Clint pointed out as explanation.

 

”Oh.” Bucky turned his gaze back to Toni, tucking a soft lock behind her ear, before going back to preening her wings. ”She’s just been so tired lately. She barely eats. I just…”

 

”I could check her out when she wakes up”, offered Bruce. ”Draw some blood, do a couple of tests, see if anything turns up.”

 

”Yeah”, Bucky murmured. ”Yeah, okay…”

 

Somebody might have pressed play, but Bucky never bothered to find out what film they were watching.

 

* * *

 

Toni found herself sitting in the medical part of Bruce’s enormous lab. She was tired, a deep weariness in her bones that she usually only felt after being awake way too long. It was morning, though, and she’d slept solidly through the night, and apparently through team movie night as well. Maybe it was because she hadn’t had any coffee yet. But honestly, lately the smell of coffee had made her feel kind of queasy.

 

She could feel Bruce watching her from the corner of his eye as he tested her blood. James was outright staring. She sipped her glass of water, hoping it would make the nausea go away. It didn’t.

 

”Oh.” Bruce’s gasp woke her from were she’d nodded off against James’s arm. When did he sit down next to her on the cot?

 

”What?” James’s anxious voice recaptured her attention, and she realized that Bruce probably found something. As she shook out her wings in an effort to wake up properly, Bruce moved over to sit down in front of her.

 

”Toni. When’s the last time you had your period?”

 

_Oh._

 

”I’m pregnant?!”

 

”You are”, Bruce responded in a carefully neutral voice. ”At least according to the hormone levels in your blood.

 

She didn’t say anything for a long moment, unsure if she should be happy or terrified. Next to her, James echoed her silence. She opened her mouth, but didn’t actually know what to say.

 

”Well, that explains a lot”, she finally settled for.

 

Bruce let them have a moment to take in the news, before coming with more information.

 

”Toni, if you decide to go through with this pregnancy, there’re a lot of things to take into account, and chances are you won’t have an easy pregnancy.”

 

”What kind of issues are you talking about?” James asked, voice tight.

 

”You need to see your doctor about your heart medication, and over all you will need to stay in close contact with real doctors for the duration of your pregnancy. There’s a risk for increased tiredness and the morning sickness might hit you harder. Towards the end of the pregnancy your lungs and heart might shift slightly to make room for your uterus, which might increase your breathing problems and may affect the arc reactor and it’s effectiveness. So it won't be easy, but it’s definitely doable. I’ll let you think it over.”

 

”There’s no need to think about it”, she said before he could leave. ”I’m having this baby.”

 

* * *

 

Later, alone in her workshop, she panicked. She didn't remain alone for long, though - James knew her too well. He showed up before her panic attack had time to fully hit and sat with her until she could breath somewhat normally again.

 

”If you’re this scared of having a baby, how come you won’t even consider terminating the pregnancy?” he asked finally.

 

”I didn’t think I actually could have kids, and I’m scared that I’ll turn out to be a horrible parent, that I’m too much like Howard. But this kid, with you - I want that more than anything.”

 

He kissed her brow with a sigh.

 

”I want that too, so much. But it won’t be easy on your body, and I hate it when you’re hurting.”

 

She started soothingly preening his dark grey feathers.

 

”We can do this, James. We can have this.”

 

Despite all insecurities about the future, that’s what she had to believe.

 

* * *

 

They decided to tell Steve first. As team leader he needed to know. And as Bucky’s closest friend, they wanted him to know. Toni’s closest friend on the team had after all been the first to find out, being the one who performed the blood test. Pepper and Rhodey, as well as the rest of the team, would be told soon. As soon as Toni and Bucky had a chance to get used to the idea themselves.

 

They were currently sat in the couch on their own floor, staring awkwardly at Steve who sat in the armchair across from them. Toni had made JARVIS call him there, saying they needed to talk to him about something. Now, though, neither of them could bring themselves to broach the subject.

 

”Seriously guys”, Steve finally said. ”What’s going on?”

 

”You have to bench me from the team”, Toni blurted out.

 

”What? Why? Are you okay? Is it your heart? What’s…?”

 

”No, no, I’m fine, I just… You need to bench me for the next nine months or so. Effective immediately.”

 

Steve looked kind of dazed as he parsed through her words. ”Nine mo… You’re pregnant?”

 

Toni blushed uncharacteristically . ”I, yeah… We’re gonna have a baby.”

 

Steve was on his feet in a second, moving to hug them both.

 

”Congratulations. I’m really happy for you both.”

 

* * *

 

Natasha figured it out on her own. She walked into the kitchen one morning only to do a double take at Toni, who was grumpily picking at her breakfast, no coffee in sight. Natasha proceeded to ignore the rest of the team in favor of sitting down across from Toni, uttering four simple words.

 

”When are you due?”

 

Clint promptly started coughing up his juice, while Thor laughed and congratulated them on this most joyous occasion.

 

Toni smiled sheepishly and forced herself to eat a tiny piece of toast.

 

”I’m due in August.”

 

* * *

 

Bucky watched as Toni worked. She was quite obviously on the brink of exhaustion, but kept pushing herself, like her project was time sensitive. The confusing thing was how the current project seemed to be her Iron Man suit.

 

”Toni, why don’t you come to bed?”

 

”I’m kinda in the middle of…”

 

”Don’t work yourself to death upgrading a suit that you wont be able to wear for another five to six months.”

 

Toni winced. ”About that…”

 

”No. You are not building a maternity suit. No way.”

 

”Hear me out. Please.” She walked over to him and started running her hands soothingly through his feathers. He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers.

 

”I’m not going to seek out battles while I’m pregnant. I would never risk our baby like that. But… But our lives are dangerous. What if someone attacks the tower? What if there’s a hostage situation? What if someone plants a bomb? Wouldn’t you rather I have a suit that I can actually fit in, to protect me and the baby, and enable me to fly away from danger?”

 

He squeezed his eyes shut and kissed her forehead.

 

”You’re brilliant, Antonia. Thank you for thinking of things like that in advance.”

 

”I’m gonna keep our baby safe. I promise.”

 

* * *

 

Toni was positively enormous. She looked like she had swallowed a bowling ball. Felt like it too. Compared to her relatively petite frame, the super soldier baby was big. And strong.

 

She winced and brought a hand to her belly as she felt a particularly strong kick near her ribs. She rubbed softly over the sore spot, hoping to calm the baby down before it started bruising her for real. James had been weirdly intense the last time she got bruises all over her belly. Luckily, the baby was usually quite calm.

 

While a kick boxer baby wasn't one of her issues, that wasn't to say she’d had an easy pregnancy. Like Bruce had predicted, morning sickness hit her hard. She struggled more than usual with fatigue and aches in her body. The heat of summer had been getting to her. Breathing wasn’t all that comfortable and she’d had to adjust the strength of the magnet in her arc reactor, as her heart grew and shifted sidewards to accommodate her baby. She couldn’t eat as much as she probably should, with the baby pressing on her organs, and leg cramps woke her up at nights. She couldn’t seem to make her spoons last the day anymore.

 

Her doctors had warned her about all of this and more. She wasn’t expected to have an easy pregnancy. She wasn’t even expected to make it to term. Yet here she was, feeling enormous, on what was supposed to be her due date, no sign of her supposedly early baby.

 

She was ready, though. Had been ready since month seven. Hospital bag was packed, nursery finished, parenting books read, childbirth researched. Her entire team had in fact researched childbirth, discussing what to do if the baby came before she could reach the hospital. Bruce had reassured them that precipitous labor was extremely rare, but that in Toni’s case it would actually be a good thing if the baby came that fast, like in the movies. With a normal, multiple hours long labor, she would likely run out of spoons and perhaps not be able to deliver naturally. In any case, home birth was out of the question, since her heartbeat would need to be monitored and her team of doctors had to be close by in case anything went wrong.

 

Still lost in thought, she arched her wings, trying to stretch out the tense muscles of her back. A pair of hands - one warm and one cold - landed on her shoulders, skillfully seeking out the knots in her muscles and rubbing them into obedience. Soft gray wings wrapped protectively around her and she sighed happily as a kiss landed on her ear.

 

”How are you doing?” a husky voice murmured in her ear.

 

”Tired. PT was hell”, she replied, feeling him go unnaturally still.

 

”She’s not supposed to push you”, he growled, sounding like he considered doing terrible things to her physical therapist.

 

”Relax, she went easy on me. It’s just… I can’t fly. At all. I managed to get like five inches off the ground and it was exhausting. And frankly quite upsetting.”

 

He placed a kiss between her shoulder blades before going back to massaging her back.

 

”It’s not for long. Our baby will be here any day now.”

 

She relaxed into his arms and tried to ignore the nervousness those words brought out in her. She’d get to meet her baby soon. But first she’d have to push it out. Or, you know, have it cut out - if her body refused to cooperate. Fun times.

 

* * *

 

Toni startled awake as the Avengers alarm went off during team movie night. Her team was already getting ready for the fight - all except James, who kept her tucked in his wings and refused to let go. She had been feeling crampy all day, and they both suspected she might be going into labor. Nothing short of the end of the world could make him leave her right now.

 

Steve stopped in front of the couch, shield already slung over his shoulder.

 

”Call us if anything happens”, he said tensely. His gaze shifted over to Bruce, who stood indecisively in the middle of the room.

 

”Is this a code green, cap?” Bruce was wringing his hands nervously.

 

Steve shook his head. ”We’ll call you if we need you, but for now you stick with Toni.”

 

The rest of the team took off for battle, leaving Toni, James and Bruce to uncomfortable silence in a too empty common room. Toni was the first one to finally speak, relieving the almost tangible tension.

 

”I need to pee.”

 

James chuckled as he helped her up from the couch and kissed her nose. She grumbled and started moving for the bathroom, before suddenly freezing in place. Her hands went to her belly while her face turned slightly red. James and Bruce were both staring at the dark spot spreading down her pants.

 

”Did your water just break?” James’s voice was tense.

 

”I think so, yeah.”

 

”Then we need to get you to the hospital!”

 

”But I still need to pee”, she whined.

 

”Relax”, Bruce cut in. ”You have time to go to the bathroom and change your pants. We _do_ need to go to the hospital, though.”

 

”I know, I know”, she muttered, waddling towards the bathroom.

 

Her first real contraction hit as she was washing her hands, and it was way stronger than she would have expected. Her entire belly shrunk with the force of it, surface becoming rock hard, and she could barely hold in a moan of pain as she hunched over. She must have made some noise though, because James rushed in. She rode out the rest of the contraction in his arms, before he quickly helped her into a dry pair of pants. As she was waddling back into the living room, the next contraction hit - and it was even stronger than the last. Bruce watched her hunch over with a worried frown between his brows.

 

”Okay, we really should get going.”

 

Toni should have known, really. The moment Bruce mentioned how rare those ridiculously fast births were, she should have suspected. And since everyone kept pointing out how important it was that she gave birth in a hospital, well, she always was a bit contradictory. And she was the unofficial queen of bad timing. So she should have known that her birth plan would be the furthest thing from what actually ended up happening.

 

It still surprised her when the entire tower shook, all windows exploded inwards and the power cut out, elevator stopping two floors down from them.

 

* * *

 

Hydra had been bombing different parts of the city, keeping the Avengers occupied as well as masking the one explosion that was slightly different. The bomb that went off closest to the tower also contained an EMP, in order to take out all electricity and JARVIS. Hydra wanted their soldier back. More than that - they wanted the brand new super soldier baby about to be born.

 

* * *

 

It didn’t take long for the arc reactor driven backup generators to turn on, and with them JARVIS - though he was down to only the most basic functions at the moment. Still, that momentary lapse in security and electricity was all it took for Hydra agents to storm the tower, swarming in through the broken windows, wings flapping threateningly.

 

A thrill of fear ran through Toni and she could feel her muscles clamping down in response, her womb contracting with an intensity that scared her. She couldn’t hold back a pained moan as James snapped into winter soldier mode and Bruce turned a lot bigger - and greener.

 

”Suit, J”, she forced out, because sending the suit to her had been a top priority when she last upgraded him and would be one of the first things to come back online. That and she felt very exposed and helpless like this, hiding behind two alpha males that she hoped would defend her.

 

As the maternity suit closed around her, protecting her from the battle raging in her living room, she felt relief but also terror. She was safe inside the suit, but the intensity of her contractions and the pressure she felt in her hips only continued to grow.

 

She really should be in a hospital.

 

* * *

 

As soon as the living room situation was under control, Bucky turned to find Toni in the process of removing her suit. He promptly freaked out.

 

”Toni, what are you doing? The battle’s not over, you need to stay in the suit!”

 

”Can’t”, she grunted, freeing herself from the last pieces of the suit and slumping against the wall. ”Baby’s coming.”

 

”Now?”

 

”I need to push.”

 

”No, no, no, honey, not yet…” Bucky was really freaking out now. He could hear more Hydra agents, still in the building, closing in on their location. Outside, explosions could still be heard in the distance, and the other Avengers hadn’t responded to their call for help. ”Bruce’s lab”, he concluded. ”We need medical equipment, and it’s built to withstand the Hulk.”

 

Toni didn’t seem to pay him any attention, completely focused on her body and its demands. Bucky turned to their teammate who was happily smacking a Hydra agent against a wall repeatedly.

 

”Hulk, we really need Bruce now. He’s a doctor and the baby is coming.”

 

The Hulk shook the upper part of his body in a gesture that seemed to mean ”no”.

 

”Dangerous. Puny Banner no good. Hulk protect.”

 

Bucky sighed, before scooping up Toni in a princess carry - despite her protests and pained noises.

 

”Then protect us while we get to the lab. Let’s go.”

 

Bucky ran for the stairs, because he didn’t even want to think about the Hulk in an elevator, and more enemies were in the process of flying in through the windows. Toni was squirming and swearing in his arms, tense and close to hyperventilating. He reminded her to try to breath as normally as possible. At least she wasn’t pushing yet, breathing like that. Small mercies.

 

As he finally made it to Bruce’s lab, the Hulk still at the other end of the hall fighting off dozens of Hydra agents, he put Toni down carefully before initiating full lockdown. Toni slumped against the wall, before tensing up again. A keening noise he’d never heard before crossed her lips as she tensed up and started trying to remove her pants. As soon as he’d helped her out of the restrictive clothes, she bent her knees and spread her legs. She held her breath for a moment, ending the push with a grunt. He stared in shock at the area between her legs.

 

The baby’s head wasn’t visible yet, but it was obviously close. Everything was swollen and puffy and _bulging_ and Bucky honestly didn’t know whether to be amazed or sick. He focused on gathering supplies for the birth instead, rushing around the room as Toni’s moans of pain twisted his heart into a knot.

 

She was still half squatting, leaning against the wall when he skidded back to her, arms full of soft towels and sterile scissors and clamps. She had made a lot of progress in the short time he’d been gone. Bucky had seen a lot of gore and blood in his life, but this sight still made him feel slightly queasy.

 

”Toni, I can see the head, keep going!”

 

Toni’s response was another loud groan and a strong push. The baby crowned more. She sunk lower into her squat, hands finding purchase on his shoulders as she strained and pushed, wings quivering with effort. She threw her head back with a shout, fingernails leaving half-moon shaped wounds in his skin. Then suddenly the head was out and her entire body started shaking violently as she tried to catch her breath between sobs and moans.

 

”Amazing, Toni. Head’s out. Only wings and shoulders left, you can do this!”

 

”But I can’t! James I… Everything’s… I…” Her incoherent words turned into a groan as the next contraction forced her to start pushing again.

 

She still had the hardest part left. Obviously babies weren't born with fully developed wings, but they did have wings - making this part of any birth challenging to say the least. Toni pushed and strained for close to ten minutes before finally making progress. With a pained shout she finally managed to push the rest of the baby out into Bucky’s waiting hands. Then she promptly collapsed.

 

* * *

 

The Avengers rushed into the tower, Bucky’s distress call still ringing in their ears - despite the fact that half an hour had passed since. JARVIS guided them down to Bruce’s lab, outside which they found a pile of unmoving Hydra agents, a recently de-hulked Bruce passed out in their midst. As JARVIS opened the door to the lab, the shrill cry of a newborn echoed through the space. Not five feet from the door was Bucky, trying to balance the crying infant in his arms while attempting to wake up its unconscious mother.

 

Oh, how Steve wished that the only one with extensive medical knowledge wasn’t the one passed out in the next room.

 

* * *

 

Toni woke up to the very familiar sound of a heartbeat monitor and the equally familiar feeling of Bucky’s hand in hers. Still, something about this didn’t feel like SHIELD medical to her. Maybe the sheets were too soft. Or the ventilation system too loud. She couldn’t put her finger on it.

 

As she opened her eyes it was easy to draw the conclusion that she was in a real hospital. Judging by the design of the room it was her preferred hospital - the one with her heart specialist, her physical therapist and her ob/gyn. She couldn’t quite remember why she was in the hospital, but Bucky was asleep next to her and the atmosphere felt calm, so she lazily stretched her wings and caressed her belly while she tried to remember. Or that was the intention, anyway - as soon as she touched the baggy skin of her empty belly, the memories rushed back. She sat up violently, with a noise that was both pain - because damn was she sore, and panic - because where was her baby?

 

Bucky startled awake, instinctively raising his wings protectively over her. A stream of soft reassurances left his lips but she couldn’t hear them over the pulse beating in her ears.

 

”Baby?” she pressed out between fast breaths.

 

”Shh, it’s okay, doll. Calm down. He’s right here.”

 

She finally noticed the bassinet next to the bed, where a wrinkly baby was wrapped in the soft yellow blanked she’d picked out four months ago. Wordlessly she reached out, and Bucky didn’t hesitate to place the sleeping baby in her arms.

 

”Meet our son”, he murmured, the pride evident in his voice.

 

She stared down at the tiny human with a tearful smile, before carefully placing a kiss on his forehead.

 

”Welcome to the world, Aron.”

 

* * *

 

A sharp cry echoed through their peaceful night. Bucky squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. He had gotten up to change a diaper just a couple of hours earlier.

 

”Toni, your son is hungry.”

 

Toni didn’t respond, she just stared tiredly at the ceiling.

 

”Toni, our son is hungry, and I don’t have the necessary equipment to feed him”, he said somewhat sharply.

 

”Well, I don’t have the spoons to”, she snarled back.

 

”So what do you suggest we do, let him starve? You’re the one who insisted on breast-feeding!”

 

She threw back the covers with a huff, swinging her legs off the mattress and sitting up. There her movement halted and she slumped, silent tears slipping down her cheeks, as she tried to find even a hint of energy. She raised a hand to wipe at her face and discovered it was trembling. In fact, she realized, her entire body was shaking.

 

”James”, she murmured, her tone begging.

 

In an instant he was out of bed and kneeling in front of her. His hands were on her cheeks, in her hair, her wings.

 

”Hey, shhh, I’m sorry. Honey, I’m sorry.”

 

”I can’t do this”, she sobbed. ”I can’t be a mother. I can’t even feed my own son.”

 

”Hey, no. Of course you can. I’ll go get him, then all you have to do is hold him and let him eat, okay? You’re an amazing mother, and I’m a jerk who doesn’t listen when you tell me you’re out of spoons. Lie down on your side - I’ll be right back.”

 

He returned with their wailing son, carefully placing him in the cradle of her arm and moving fabric out of the way until he could easily latch on.

 

”I didn’t think it’d be like this”, Toni murmured, eyes closed. ”I didn’t think you’d have to do it all on your own.”

 

”That’s not true, doll, and you know it. We’re just both really tired. It’ll be better tomorrow - I promise.”

 

Toni was already asleep.

 

* * *

 

The following morning, Bucky slipped out of bed, checked up on their still sleeping son, let his gaze linger on the dark bags under Toni’s eyes and how she didn’t even stir when he kissed her forehead, then took the elevator down to the common floor. The rest of the team were eating breakfast as he slipped into the kitchen. He moved straight to the coffee machine, swiping down his first cup in the same way Toni used to do.

 

”Someone had a rough night”, Clint commented.

 

Bucky didn’t respond. He rubbed his forehead before pouring a second cup.

 

”Seriously, Buck, are you okay?”

 

Bucky shook his head at Steve’s question. ”I snapped at Toni. We were both tired, but I made her cry.”

 

”Did you resolve it?” Bruce asked.

 

”Yeah, but… We can’t keep going like this. He never sleeps through the night, and Toni is always out of spoons on account of lack of sleep. And I’m just. I’m tired too, you know? I’m the one who fucking gets up multiple times a night to take care of him.”

 

Natasha moved over to him, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him to meet her gaze.

 

”Yasha, you have an entire team ready to help you, if you just ask for it. We can take turns - I’ll take him the next night.”

 

”He’s usually hungry at least once a night”, Bucky hesitated.

 

”If Toni doesn’t have the energy to breast-feed all the time, then we’ll get formula. That’s nonnegotiable. She needs sleep and he needs food.”

 

Bucky felt the tension rush out of him with his released breath and he sagged against her. Her wings flapped in surprise before she steadied him and wrapped her arms around him. He was shuddering, face buried in her hair, but it was first at Steve’s worried ”Bucky?” that she realized he was actually crying on her shoulder. Then she felt Steve wrap his arms and wings around them both.

 

After a while the silent sobs tapered off and Bucky stilled against them.

 

”Sorry”, he murmured into the soft red and white cloud that was made up of Natasha’s hair and Steve’s feathers. ”I just feel like I’ve spent so much time and energy worrying about her and taking care of her, and now there’s Aron to worry about, too, and it’s just so exhausting.”

 

”Toni doesn’t want you to always take care of her, you know. A relationship is a two-way street and you have to give her a chance to take care of you too. If you’re feeling like this - talk to her.”

 

”Wise words, Natalia”, he murmured. ”But she does not have the spoons to worry about me right now.”

 

”You can’t know that until you’ve talked to her.”

 

He had learned a long time ago, that when Natasha gave you advice, you'd better listen.

 

* * *

 

The morning sun hitting his face woke him up. In his arms Toni stirred, her wings coming up to protect her own face from the invasive light.

 

”Morning”, she murmured without opening her eyes. He kissed her forehead in response.

 

For once, they had both slept through the night. Natasha had made good on her promise to take care of Aron for the night. While it felt a bit weird and scary to not have their son so close by, the both of them really needed the rest. Toni blinked her eyes open to look at him.

 

”Hey there”, she said, giving him a chaste kiss.

 

”Hey there, yourself”, he responded, a grin tugging at his lips. He kissed her playfully on the nose before becoming serious. ”I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

 

She changed into a more comfortable position, giving him her full attention. He didn’t say anything for a while, trying to find the right words.

 

”Lately I’ve been feeling like it’s my responsibility to take care of you and Aron, and well - it kinda is. But I’m exhausted. And I… I don’t know how to keep going at the same speed, ’cause I’ve been running on fumes for a while now.”

 

”Baby”, she murmured, fingers coming up to stroke his cheek. ”James, I’m really glad that you told me this. I’ve been feeling like such a failure, because you take so good care of us both, and I can’t seem to take care of anyone.”

 

”Doll, that’s not…”

 

”Hush, I’m talking. I wasn’t trying to make this about me. I’m just saying we’re both struggling right now, and we have to learn to lean on each other. We need to be honest with each other, and when it gets too much, we ask the team for help, okay?”

 

”Okay”, he whispered.

 

”Okay. Now turn on your stomach and I’ll give you a massage.”

 

”Toni, you don’t have to… You should…”

 

”I want to take care of you too, James. Now, shut up, and let me choose how to use my own spoons.”

 

”Shutting up”, he laughed as he turned on his stomach.

 

Toni massaged his entire back and preened his wings, before falling asleep on top of him. Bucky smiled softly and let himself drift off. They deserved a nap before breakfast.

 

* * *

 

An hour or so later, Steve showed up with a breakfast tray. If his team didn’t have enough sense to feed themselves, then he’d damn well make sure they didn’t starve. Besides. They’d need some food in their bellies when Natasha gave them back that adorable, stinky, wailing baby of theirs. He was looking forward to some peace and quiet, himself, actually. That kid had some lungs on him.

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me what you think. I'm aware that adding a baby into the mix will somewhat change the course of this story, and I hope I haven't scared off too many readers.
> 
> Take care!


End file.
